The Washington Times (yes, them) has a page-one story today about the devastating effect of the war on the mental health of Iraqis:

Iraqi psychiatrists are seeing what they call a disturbing spike in mental health disorders as terrorism, an armed insurrection and a bloody sectarian divide grip the country. Escalating psychiatric caseloads are compounded by Iraq's lack of mental health workers, facilities and services.

Several mental health care professionals say the number of untreated or undertreated people nationwide reaches into the millions, and the consequences could permanently damage generations.

"Iraqis are being traumatized every day," said Said Al-Hashimi, a psychiatrist who runs a private clinic and teaches at Mustansiriya Medical School in Baghdad. "No one knows what will result from living through this continuous trauma on a daily basis."

And this:

"I look into the eyes of children whose parents have been killed or are imprisoned every day," said Nadal Al-Shamri, a pediatrician at the Medical City health complex in Baghdad. "The psychological trauma is so deeply ingrained in some children that they may never lead a normal life."

No wonder polls are showing that more and more Iraqis are depressed, and that they support violence against the U.S. occupation forces. More than nine out of ten Sunnis support attacks on U.S. troops, the poll reported:

The optimism that helped sustain Iraqis during the first few years of the war has dissolved into widespread fear, anger and distress amid unrelenting violence, a survey found.

The poll - the third in Iraq since early 2004 by ABC News and media partners - draws a stark portrait of an increasingly pessimistic population under great emotional stress. Among the findings of this survey for ABC News, USA Today, the BBC and ARD German TV:

The number of Iraqis who say their own life is going well has dipped from 71 percent in November 2005 to 39 percent now.

About three-fourths of Iraqis report feelings of anger, depression and difficulty concentrating.

More than half of Iraqis have curtailed activities like going out of their homes, going to markets or other crowded places and traveling through police checkpoints.

Only 18 percent of Iraqis have confidence in U.S. and coalition troops, and 86 percent are concerned that someone in their household will be a victim of violence.

Slightly more than half of Iraqis - 51 percent - now say that violence against U.S. forces is acceptable - up from 17 percent who felt that way in early 2004. More than nine in 10 Sunni Arabs in Iraq now feel this way.

Wayne White, who led the State Department's intelligence team on Iraq until 2005, notes that polls understate the problem, since pollsters necessarily underrepresent the most violent, disaffected areas of the country.